Heat is on as seeding season revs up

Opinion

They say the difference between a good farmer and a bad farmer is half an inch.

Seeding half an inch too deep, half an inch too shallow or getting half an inch of rain can make all the difference between a crop that emerges in anemic-looking patches or one that bursts out of the ground to cover the landscape like a 1970s-style shag carpet.

Farmers can’t control the rain, wind or temperature. Their skill lies in the ability to connect the seed with whatever moisture is available in the soil until the skies deliver another shot of precipitation.

Despite minimal runoff this spring, moisture was considered adequate for getting the crop off to a good start. Heat and wind can make a big difference to how quickly the top soil dries out, however, and there was no shortage of either as seeding rolled into high gear across the Prairies this past week.

The trick is to seed as shallow as possible so the crop can get a jump-start on the weeds and deep enough to be into moisture — but not so deep the seedlings peter out before they reach sunlight.

“Every year, we always run into problems where a producer got something in a little bit too deep,” provincial crops specialist Lionel Kaskiw said in a weekly crop webinar. “We’re going to need a rain eventually. So, if you’re seeding at the right depth for whatever crop you’re planting, that’s probably the best thing to do.”

That said, without moisture to activate growth, a seed in the ground just sits and waits, which is an open invitation to voracious pests or gale-force winds that swoop in and lift the soil around it, sometimes carrying the seed and fertilizer away, too.

When properly calibrated, modern seeders can place seed and fertilizer in the ground at the target depths with a minimum of disturbance, which preserves moisture. They can also precisely position the fertilizer close enough to the seed to give it a nutritional boost without being so close as to scorch its tender shoots.

This is no small feat considering those larger seeding units crawling across the fields weigh as much as a dinosaur. It also helps explain why buying one is as costly as buying a house.

“Crawling” is the operative word when it comes to seeding. Although it’s well-documented the yield potential for most crops starts to decline if they’re seeded after the middle of May, operators are advised to throttle back their sense of urgency. Studies have shown seeding at high speeds increases bounce, causing wide variations in seeding depth. That costs them yield, too.

As of this week, seeding progress across Manitoba was running ahead of last year, but about on par with the five-year average. With the hot and dry conditions, provincial extension staff expect a third of the crop could be in the ground by next week.

Farther west, however, social media reports from Saskatchewan say some farmers are pausing seeding operations due to lack of moisture and blowing soil.

Temperatures have fluctuated dramatically between hot and cold, but warmer weather overall has boosted soil temperatures to where popular cash crops such as soybeans and canola, which prefer warm soil, can be planted early.

“I don’t think there’s any crop that we plant that wouldn’t have the right soil moisture or soil temperature to help promote germination,” Kaskiw said.

However, he warned the heat will dry soil fast and cause those newly sown crops to emerge more quickly than in other years. That could pose problems if a farmer hoped to use the time between planting and emergence to spray weeds. That window closes as soon as the crop is peeking out of the ground.

This year’s crop has a long way to go before it’s in the bin, but at least it’s off to a roaring start.

Laura Rance is executive editor, production content lead for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com